JANUARY 16, 2012

FIA to adjust DRS zones in 2012

The FIA's controversial DRS 'overtaking' zones will be modified in 2012 using data from the first season of the device's availability.

The FIA's controversial DRS 'overtaking' zones will be modified in 2012 using data from the first season of the device's availability.

The DRS (Drag Reduction System) allows cars within one second of that in front at a prescribed point, to activate a DRS button, which flattens out the rear wing, reducing drag and increasing speed between set points on a following straight.

It was introduced after research by F1's leading technical brains in a bid to address the age-old problem of being unable to follow a car closely enough to overtake, due to 'dirty air.'

Some feel that it was a hugely positive step and increased F1's entertainment value, in association with Pirelli's higher degradation control tyres, while others feel that it is too artificial and has no place in motor sport's top echelon.

The FIA always said that 2011 would be viewed as experimental and that the good thing about DRS was that it can be tweaked to address situations where overtaking was still regarded as too difficult or, by contrast, too easy.

One of the best examples of the latter was the Turkish GP, while the first race of 2011 in Melbourne saw only three DRS-assisted passes throughout.

Then Williams technical director Sam Michael believed that multiple zones should have been applied in Australia and that will be the case in the 2012 season opener on March 18. Autosport.com, meanwhile, reports that the double zones used in Montreal and Valencia in 2011 will become lengthened single zones.

What is certain is that the 2011 season witnessed more overtaking than any previous season.